


Tiny Dancer

by FunnyWings



Series: Wayward AF [3]
Category: Supernatural, Wayward Sisters (TV)
Genre: Canon verse, Case Fic, Coming of Age Stuff, F/F, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Gen, Monster of the Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 09:11:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14734133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FunnyWings/pseuds/FunnyWings
Summary: A new hunter shows up with bad news: there's a demon on the loose in Sioux Falls. Claire is determined to take out her first demon, but will the challenge prove to be too much for this burgeoning hunter?Excerpt:“Claire, I said no,” Jody said more emphatically. “Demons are not something you just… You have no idea what one might do to you.”“If we take the case, it goes wrong. You aren’t going to win,” Patience added. Claire looked skeptical.“We don’t know if your vision was about the same thing. We don’t know when your vision is going to happen!” said Claire. “You had a vision of me tripping down the stairs that didn’t come true for three weeks. I’m a hunter, and if there’s a demon in my home, I’m going to hunt it.”“I’m with Jody on this one,” said Alex. “Claire… you don’t know how bad they are.”“Yes, I do,” Claire said. “My mom held a knife to my throat and threatened to kill me when I was twelve. I had never been more scared in my entire life. And then… I, uh, I could see what they looked like when Castiel… I mean, I could see their faces. I know what demons are a hell of a lot better than any of you. And you can’t stop me from going after one.”





	Tiny Dancer

Claire did her best to convince herself that it didn’t do anything to her to see Wendy covered in sweat and a little pissed off. And if it did turn her stomach in a way that wasn’t altogether unpleasant, well… it wasn’t like she could do anything about it anyway.

“Would it kill you to take it easy on me?” Wendy huffed. Claire hadn’t let her land a hit for the last hour of training she’d been putting Wendy through. Claire grinned.

“Is it gonna kill me? No,” said Claire. “Could it kill you? Yeah.”

“Ugh,” Wendy groaned. Despite her frustration, she managed a small smile in return to Claire’s teasing. Then she lunged forward again, doing her best to land a punch on Claire’s stomach. Claire dodged it with ease and used Wendy’s momentum against her, carefully swinging her down and pinning her to the ground. Wendy didn’t have time to put up a fight before Claire was leaning over her, Wendy’s wrists held down at either side of her head.

“Gotcha,” Claire said. She sounded smug but she couldn’t quite help it. And the way Wendy looked up at her all breathless was just making the stupid fluttery feelings in her middle get worse.

“You really do,” Wendy said back, still a little wide eyed. “Let me up.”

Fluidly, Claire stood and offered Wendy her hand. Wendy got back in a fighting stance.

“C’mon, that’s enough for today,” said Claire. She ignored the affronted look Wendy gave her. “You’re going to make yourself so sore we won’t be able to practice tomorrow. Take a break.”

“You never take breaks.”

“I’m so not a role model,” said Claire.

“I want to keep going.”

“You’ll hurt yourself.”

“I want to keep going,” Wendy repeated, but more emphatically this time. Claire could see it now. Under the playfulness was something darker. It was easy to forget sometimes that Wendy had been kidnapped and almost sold at auction by a bunch of monster douchebags. Easy to forget until it wasn’t, at least.

“No,” Claire said, just as emphatically. “I know it sucks, trust me I do, but you can’t learn this stuff overnight. And you’re safe here. I-“

Claire snapped her mouth shut. She had almost said “I promise,” and there were promises she knew she couldn’t keep. Wendy deserved better than empty words. Kaia had deserved better.

“I’ll teach you something else,” Claire offered. “How about a hex bag? If you use the right ingredients they act as a sort of repellent for witches, monsters, demons… How does that sound?”

Slowly, Wendy nodded her assent. Claire breathed a sigh of relief and led her back into Jody’s house from the training area Claire had created in the backyard shed.

**********

Jody checked her phone for the umpteenth time and was relieved to see there were still no new messages. She had a stressful few weeks, what with Patience starting at Sioux Falls High School and Alex starting to take more shifts at the hospital. Claire at least had seemed to slowly settle into her grieving process, and was no longer up all hours of the night. Spending time with Wendy seemed to be helping, Jody thought to herself.

“Everything alright?” prompted Father Hellen. Jody focused back in on her surroundings. She was sitting in Father Hellen’s office at the church, and he had just gotten back from making the both of them coffee. The office was as ugly as the rest of the church, all dark wood and half hearted craftsmanship. Jody shifted in her chair, trying not to show her discomfort.

“Fine,” Jody said. “I came here because I wanted to say thank you for helping us with Freya.”

“And,” Father Hellen prompted after Jody’s pause had lasted a ways past socially acceptable. Jody cleared her throat.

“You owe me a talk,” Jody reminded him. Father Hellen sighed.

“I suppose I do,” said Father Hellen.

“You take in monsters.”

“Yes,” said Father Hellen. “The ones who need a safe place from hunters, and who have done nothing wrong.”

“What counts as doing something wrong?” Jody asked. She had nothing against religious folks but she’d met more than a few who used their faith to push their own agenda. She didn’t like to think the worst of people, but she wasn’t letting Claire or Wendy within a hundred feet of anyone who would tell them they were wrong for the way they were.

“Murder, torture, assault,” said Father Hellen. “I, uh… I assume you’re concerned I might have something against people like Claire. I don’t. I understand how difficult that must be.”

“People like Claire?” Jody asked sharply. Father Hellen nodded.

“Hunters,” he explained. Jody relaxed slightly. “I’m sure all of us start to look the same after a while. Another potential threat to humanity.”

And up went Jody’s hackles all over again.

“All of us? What exactly does that mean?”

Father Hellen looked down at his hands where they were resting on his coffee cup. He was strong for a man in his sixties, and Jody became very quickly aware that all she had on her to defend herself was a gun. Father Hellen seemed to sense this apprehension, and looked up to meet her eyes.

“Come now, Jody,” he said, sounding a little strained. “There’s a limit to what humans are willing to do for monsters. Less so what I am willing to do. You would have come to this conclusion on your own eventually.”

Jody considered this.

“What are you?”

“I promise I’ll tell you when I’m convinced you don’t have designs to kill me,” Father Hellen offered. “I’ve never hurt anyone, not once. I know how to keep my nature under control.”

Jody mulled it all over, and quietly sipped her coffee. Father Hellen endured the silence, which said a lot in his favor if Jody was being honest. There were things about him that she liked and wanted to get to know, but she had learned a long time ago that engaging strange men, especially men associated with her side job, led nowhere good fast.

“You keeping anyone under your wing right now?” she asked at last. Father Hellen sighed.

“I can’t answer that.”

“You’re asking me to trust you,” she said. Forgive her for being skeptical, but…

“I’m choosing to trust you,” Father Hellen pointed out in lieu of an answer.

“Alright,” said Jody. She hoped she wouldn’t regret it.

**********

One moment, Patience was sitting in the middle of Calculus, learning about the practical uses of conics. The next, everything went dark. She couldn’t see, she couldn’t move, and the only thing she could hear was the sound of distant screaming. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t seem to break free from the thick ropes that bound her wrists.

“Patience?” prompted an authoritative voice. Patience shook herself and looked up. The entire class was staring at her. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” Patience said quickly. “I just spaced out for a second. Sorry.”

Her teacher didn’t look convinced, but he went on with the lesson without drawing more attention to Patience. She, meanwhile, felt her foot begin to tap as she waited out the end of class so she could call Jody and let her know about the vision. Fifteen minutes later, Patience nearly leapt from her seat, shoving her books into her bag and reaching for her cell phone.

“Patience, can I speak to you quickly?” her teacher asked.

Patience looked down at her phone, at the door, and then back at her teacher. She took a deep breath and then tried to paste on the teacher’s pet smile she had perfected in her many years of trying to work her way to an ivy league school.

“Of course,” said Patience. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” he said carefully. Patience couldn’t remember his name from when he had introduced himself, so she snuck a glance down at his ID card. Mr. Conrad Jones. He looked a little like Patience’s father, a fact that was putting her on edge. “I just wanted to make sure that you’re adjusting.”

“I’m fine,” Patience said, carefully keeping her tone respectful. Mr. Jones raised an eyebrow. “Trust me, I can handle a new school.”

“Alright,” Mr. Jones said carefully. “But if you need counseling services, or anything else, you know where to look?”

Patience nodded.

“I had to move a lot when I was younger,” Mr. Jones said. “I know how difficult it can be. But things will be getting better soon. Have you heard back from any colleges yet?”

“Princeton,” Patience said quietly. “But I can’t go anymore. I figured the community college here is a better fit.”

Mr. Jones frowned at her.

“Have you told Princeton that yet?”

Patience didn’t want to talk about this. It was hard enough having to deal with the fact that her entire world had shifted so suddenly without having to talk through it with someone who couldn’t hope to understand.

“Not yet,” she said. Mr. Jones nodded.

“How about you ask for a year deferment instead?” he prompted carefully. “In case your situation changes again. You’re a smart girl, anyone can see that. I’d hate to see you settle for something you don’t want without a little more time to think it through.”

Patience shrugged. Her situation wasn’t ever going to change. She was going to be stuck like this for the rest of her life, and it didn’t matter where she went. Ignoring her gift would mean letting people die, and she couldn’t do that.

“I’ll think about it,” she hedged to Mr. Jones. “Can I go now?”

Mr. Jones nodded, and Patience made a beeline for the door. Instead of going to her next class, Patience tucked herself into the first empty girl’s bathroom she found and took out her cell phone. Her foot tapped hard against the bathroom floor as she waited for Jody to answer.

“Patience?” Jody asked. “Is something wrong?”

“I had a vision.”

**********

It wasn’t often that Alex saw patients hand cuffed to their cots, but when she did she always took extra care to keep the sharp things away from them. She supposed it would be funny if after the life she’d lived, she ended up dead because a common criminal with a scalpel had blindly stabbed her while she tried to save their life. Some kind of poetic irony in it.

“What’s wrong with her?” Alex asked the nurse she was shadowing that day. Bea shrugged and replaced the woman’s IV. The young woman flinched at the touch, her eyes wild and scared. Bea left Alex to check the rest of her vitals while she moved onto the next patient. Alex carefully took her pulse (which was racing) and started asking some of the standard questions that gave them a good idea what was wrong with each patient before the doctors came in to see them.

“Any pain?” Alex started with. The young woman stared at her blankly. Alex tried again, using the rudimentary sign language she knew in addition to speaking. For a second, she thought she saw a flash of recognition in the woman’s eyes, but instead of answering the woman just kept staring at her. Alex looked at the woman’s hands, still handcuffed to either side of the cot.

It was a risk to uncuff her, especially since Alex didn’t know all that much sign language anyway. Alex peeked to her left and right and saw no one was watching her. Carefully she pulled a hairpin out of her pocket and picked each of the locks. The woman’s hands fell at her sides, and it was only then that Alex could see long scars running down the length of her arms, some of them beginning to ooze blood. It looked like she’d been mauled by a bear.

“Are you okay?” Alex asked, fumbling through the signs. The woman carefully raised her hands. I don’t know. Okay, Alex knew enough for that one. “What’s your name?”

E-I-L-E-E-N

“Okay, Eileen,” Alex said carefully. “Why were you handcuffed?”

Eileen signed something, but she seemed to realize she was signing over Alex’s comprehension skills. She sighed, and went back to spelling.

N-O-T-M-E.

“Not you?” Alex asked carefully. Eileen nodded vigorously.

D-E-M-O-N

Alex felt her face grow pale. Eileen, however, seemed prepared for a different reaction.

T-R-U-T-H, she signed insistently. Alex just nodded at her, trying to keep the primal fear at bay.

Vampires and demons didn’t get along exactly. Mostly they stayed out of each other’s way, but on the occasions they butted heads… Alex could still remember watching cousin Andrew have his head ripped from his body. It happened so slowly Andrew had time to realize that he was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. Alex did her best not to pity her old family anymore. They killed people without mercy or pity, and they’d kidnapped her as a child for their own use. They’d forced her to help them kill. They didn’t deserve her sympathies. But the way Andrew had screamed…

“Can you talk?” Alex asked and signed. Eileen shook her head. After a moment she opened her mouth and Alex recoiled at the sight of her missing tongue. “Can you understand me?”

T-R-Y-S-P-E-A-K-S-L-O-W, Eileen signed back. S-I-G-N-I-S-B-E-T-T-E-R

Alex nodded. Unfortunately she didn’t know how to say what she wanted to next in sign language.

“Is the demon gone?” she asked. Eileen shook her head. “From you, I mean?” Eileen nodded. “I can let you out of here.”

Alex took off the cuffs around Eileen’s ankles and then helped her up. Eileen almost smiled at her for a second before her face screwed up, and she fell back with a wordless cry of pain. Alex looked down to see that Eileen was bleeding through her medical gown from an injury Alex was certain she couldn’t have come in with.

“I’m getting help,” Alex said, panicking and snapping the cuffs back on so no one would get suspicious. Eileen cried out again and Alex gently touched her shoulder to reassure her. “You’re going to be okay.”

Alex hoped that was true.

**********

The dinner table was heavy with silent tension. Claire did her best not to take it too personally.

“We’ll hand the hunt off to someone else,” Jody said at long last. Not a fucking chance, thought Claire.

“I can handle a demon,” said Claire. “I’ll go in prepared. Besides, most of the work is just going to be figuring out who’s possessed.”

“Claire.”

“And I’m safe,” Claire pointed out. “I got the tattoo Cas sent me to keep demons out. Most hunters don’t bother.”

“Claire, I said no,” Jody said more emphatically. “Demons are not something you just… You have no idea what one might do to you.”

“If we take the case, it goes wrong. You aren’t going to win,” Patience added. Claire looked skeptical.

“We don’t know if your vision was about the same thing. We don’t know when your vision is going to happen!” said Claire. “You had a vision of me tripping down the stairs that didn’t come true for three weeks. I’m a hunter, and if there’s a demon in my home, I’m going to hunt it.”

“I’m with Jody on this one,” said Alex. “Claire… you don’t know how bad they are.”

“Yes, I do,” Claire said. “My mom held a knife to my throat and threatened to kill me when I was twelve. I had never been more scared in my entire life. And then… I, uh, I could see what they looked like when Castiel… I mean, I could see their faces. I know what demons are a hell of a lot better than any of you. And you can’t stop me from going after one.”

“Claire,” Jody tried again.

Claire threw her silverware down and stood up.

“I’m not hungry,” she said, marching off. Wendy watched as she left and then quietly cleared her throat.

“Can I…?”

Jody motioned her acquiescence and Wendy carefully set down her own silverware to follow after Claire.

“Why do you let her get away with acting like this?” Alex asked. Jody rolled her eyes and went on eating her dinner. “If I did anything like that-“

“You’re not Claire, and Claire isn’t you,” Jody pointed out. Alex looked down at her plate of food.

“I’m not hungry either,” Alex said, standing up and going off to her own room. Jody glanced at Patience who was still sat at the table.

“You want to leave, too?” she asked. Patience shook her head.

“More food for me,” she muttered. That startled a warm laugh out of Jody, and for a moment Patience seemed a little happier too. At least one person wasn’t mad at her, Jody thought.

**********

Eileen Leahy was aware she must have been through hours of surgery. Every inch of her ached, and it was as though she could still feel the hellhounds biting through her skin.

Once they had finally broke the anti-possession tattoo on her right hip, Eileen had stopped feeling any pain at all. Her skin had glued itself back together beneath her, and Eileen had had the feeling that something thick and oily had been shoved up her nose and rapidly spread to every part of her body. After another minute her head had snapped up without her permission.

“What do you want me to do?” she said, but it wasn’t her. It was someone else inside her, pulling the strings. Eileen wanted to puke. She fought desperately against the the invading force as it pushed her to her feet and turned to face the man who had attacked her.

“Play dead, and then report to Crowley,” said Ketch. The demon used Eileen’s awareness in order to read the vile man’s lips. “Your meatsuit is a friend of the Winchesters. We can use her again if we need to.”

The demon had nodded and soon after Eileen had been unceremoniously shoved into unconsciousness. Even now, herself again, she couldn’t remember what her body had been used for. Who she might have unwittingly hurt.

She knew there were stitches spanning her skin and they itched fiercely, but Eileen couldn’t move her hands to scratch them. Once again, she had been cuffed to her cot, only this time the nice nurse who had helped her before was nowhere to be seen. Instead she was being stared down by a sheriff who seemed to have only just realized she’d woken up.

“Eileen?” the sheriff said. “Look I can’t take off the handcuffs, it would look suspicious. Nod for yes, shake for no. You were possessed by a demon?”

Eileen nodded, cautiously. The sheriff didn’t seem to be doubting her, but it was unlikely that she would meet two people so willing to believe her in quick succession. And Eileen was on guard now in a way she hadn’t been when she had spoken to the nice nurse. This time her skin wasn’t slowly ungluing itself and revealing the injuries the hellhounds had left on her during her possession. This time she remembered you couldn't trust most people as far as you could throw them.

“Is the demon still alive?”

Eileen nodded.

“Do you know who it’s possessing now?”

Eileen hesitated, but nodded. She wished the nice nurse was back so she could ask a question of her own. Before leaving her body to possess a new one, the demon had cut out her tongue so it would be incredibly difficult to contact anyone about what it was doing. The amount of people who knew sign language and were involved in the hunting community was tiny, and Eileen knew it. So the demon had taken her voice.

“Are you a hunter?” the sheriff asked next. Eileen blinked in suppressed surprise and nodded enthusiastically. She pointed at the sheriff and tried to indicate with her head that she was asking the same thing. Jody nodded. “Yeah. But like I said, I can’t let you out. I can leave you with this.”

The sheriff carefully placed a pin and a piece of paper in Eileen’s hand.

“Hide it where you can reach it,” she said gently. “And come to that address when you’re better. We’ll take you in until you’re back on your feet.”

Eileen found herself blinking back tears. She nodded, doing her best to keep her composure. The sheriff gently reached out and pushed a strand of hair out of her face. She looked very sad for Eileen. Eileen wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“My name’s Jody,” the sheriff said. “My… my daughter’s on the case. She’s going to find the thing that hurt you and she’s going to take care of it. You’re gonna be okay.”

Eileen nodded again, clutching the paper and the pin in her hand tighter. She wasn’t sure she believed it, but it was so reassuring she decided not to question it. At least for the moment.

**********

Claire was trolling through weather sites and Wendy found herself growing helplessly bored. She understood that this was an important part of demon hunting, though she still didn’t fully grasp how it worked. She also understood it was incredibly dull work.

“Is there anything I can do?” Wendy asked at last, throwing herself down on the bed next to Claire. Claire spared her a small smile before going back to her weather reports.

“Check missing persons? Alex can show you how to do it if she’s not still pissed,” said Claire. “Actually, she’ll probably do it for you anyway. Just act a little pathetic and her nursing instincts will kick in.”

“You don’t want me around?” Wendy asked carefully. The scrolling stopped. Claire’s eyes froze on the screen and Wendy tried to think of a way to salvage the situation. “I was kidding, Claire. I’ll go ask Alex to-“

“I do want you around,” Claire said. “I like you, you know that right?”

If Wendy hadn’t sensed an enormous ‘but’ coming, this would have been the best news she’d had in weeks. As it was, she kept quiet to hear the rest.

“But… I’m not in a good place right now,” said Claire. “So this isn’t going to happen. I need you to tell me you’re okay with that.”

“I’m okay with that,” Wendy said quickly. “But if you change your mind… give a girl a head’s up?”

“Yeah, I will,” Claire said. “And it really would help me if you’d go bug Alex about the missing persons’ reports.”

“I’m going, I’m going,” said Wendy, swinging her legs off the bed and landing gracefully on the floor. She’d never have described herself as graceful before, but the training with Claire was slowly improving her balance. She felt stronger by the day, as though she were coming into her own in a way she hadn’t known she could. “One more thing, Claire?”

Claire looked up from her laptop.

“I like you, too,” Wendy said. She didn’t wait for a response.

Alex and Patience’s room was much different than Claire’s. It was neater, more organized, and yet… less lived in. Patience’s side of the room especially had the look of someone who considered their stay temporary. Wendy spotted a suitcase beneath the bed that had yet to be fully unpacked. The contents were immaculately folded, however.

“What are you doing here?” Alex asked, slamming her laptop down the moment she saw Wendy. Wendy raised an eyebrow.

“Are you watching porn? No shame, girl. Always good to see a woman exploring her sexuality,” she said. “Should I come back in fifteen minutes?”

“What? No,” said Alex. “I was just… It’s a support group.”

“A support group?” Wendy asked. “For what? You’re not really rocking the junkie vibe.”

“Survivors,” Alex said her voice strained and low. “People who have brushes with the supernatural and… have trouble moving on. Like ex-witches, people who’ve been possessed, people who’ve been rescued by hunters.”

Huh.

“And it’s real?” Wendy asked.

“Yeah, it really is,” said Alex. “Real helpful, too.”

“Maybe you could hook me up? Claire’s great but… she doesn’t like to talk about that kind of stuff,” Wendy hedged. “I could use something like that.”

Alex was mostly surprised by this reaction, Wendy could tell. She looked like she was expecting to be made fun of because of it. Or chastised.

“Alex?” Wendy asked. Alex snapped out of it.

“No worries, I’ll get you on the boards,” Alex said. “I’m friends with some of the mods. Not real life friends, but support group friends. You know what I mean.”

“Thanks,” said Wendy. “Oh and I’m here because Claire needs the missing persons’ reports for-“

“Already emailed her,” Alex said. Wendy turned to leave, but Alex stopped her with a word. “Wait. You can’t tell Jody about the support group thing. She wouldn’t understand. Jody’s wonderful, but… I need to talk to people who are out of the life. Hunters don’t get it.”

“Claire doesn’t get it, either,” Wendy inferred. Alex nodded.

“Exactly.”

“I’ll keep it to myself,” Wendy promised. Alex thanked her, and promised to show her the message boards after they caught the demon.

**********

Jody wondered how much work it was going to take to have Eileen’s arrest and paperwork dropped. Calling in favors of that kind was something of a specialty of hers, but Eileen had more against her than most of the hunters Jody had the power to get out of the legal system. Eileen had resisted medical help, injured two police officers when they were called to the scene, and had been suspected to be mentally incompetent when she wouldn’t answer any questions put to her or respond quickly to their directions.

She was deaf, Jody thought to herself bitterly. Alex had figured that out in two seconds flat, and the fact that Jody’s own officers hadn’t come to the same conclusion or even tried to… it pissed her off. Resisting arrest. Sheesh.

In any case, she was now having a long drawn out argument with Freddie about the incident. He was one of the officers who’d been injured, and he didn’t appreciate Jody’s insinuation that he hadn’t been doing his job correctly. As though Jody gave a rat’s ass about his broken pinky finger when he’d been trying to subdue a traumatized woman half his size.

“How was I supposed to know she was deaf?” he’d demanded. “She was causing a public disturbance and we answered the call. She can see we’re the cops. She should have cooperated.”

“You were yelling instructions at her that she couldn’t understand,” Jody said back. “If we don’t drop the charges, I’m gonna bet we’ll have a lawsuit on our hands. You want that?”

Freddie sighed, backing down.

“No ma’am,” he muttered. “But that ain’t why you’re doing this.”

“And why am I doing this?”

Freddie’s eyes flashed, dark and angry.

“She’s one of those weirdos you look out for. Like that Donna chick you’re always calling,” he said confidently. “I’m gonna figure out what’s going on one of these days, and when I do-“

“Watch your fucking tone with me, Freddie,” Jody said before he could finish his threat. “I’m in charge of you, and that’s not changing anytime soon.”

Freddie grit his teeth.

“We’ll see about that,” he said back, standing up to leave the office. Jody let her head rest in her hands for a moment to collect herself, but just for a moment. Then she sat up straight and got back to work, because that was what Sheriff Jody Mills was supposed to do.

**********

“I could kill it.”

Father Hellen stared at Kaia, surprised by the words leaving her lips. He’d only just realized himself that there was a demon in Sioux Falls that needed to be taken care of. He’d only shared this information with Kaia because she was frequently bored and appreciated hearing what his day had been like. Or at least she seemed to like it better than silence.

“We don’t kill demons,” Father Hellen told her firmly. Kaia narrowed her eyes. “We exorcise them. That way the host survives.”

“Why would that matter?” the huntress asked. Savior of her people she may have been, but that didn’t mean she understood the value of life. For the thousandth time, it was brought home to Father Hellen that Kaia had grown up in a world far different from his own. She shared only small bites of information at a time, but it was enough to make the priest’s blood run cold.

“Because it’s important to protect life as best as you can,” Father Hellen said. Kaia frowned to herself.

“And that’s one of the rules I need to remember,” she said, cautiously. Father Hellen nodded.

“You aren’t the huntress anymore,” he told her. “You can just be Kaia.”

Kaia thought about this for a moment.

“I don’t know who Kaia is,” Kaia said. “When I feel her, all I feel is regret and nightmares. I don’t like sleeping and feeling her shift within me. Looking for somewhere else to be. I don’t like it here.”

Father Hellen took the seat beside Kaia. She looked vulnerable in a way she rarely did, and he knew now it was of the essence to be cautious. Kaia could be mercurial at the best of times, and when her mood swung towards the murderous, Father Hellen was sure to stay out of her way.

“Do you want to go home?” he asked her, gently. Kaia shook her head.

“No. Home is worse,” she said. “So much worse.”

**********

Claire looked down at the missing person report in her hand. Mr. Conrad Jones. Unmarried, no kids. He had a sister he was close with that had reported him missing. The police had dropped it when they’d discovered he’d moved a few states over to start a new teaching job at Sioux Falls High School.

The school brought back memories of Alex’s shitty vampire boyfriend and Claire’s fumbling first attempts at being an honest to God hunter. Not exactly a pleasant thing to recall when you’re going after your first demon. Claire reflexively checked her holy water, bag of salt, and the angel blade she’d placed in a harness hidden beneath her jacket. All there. One more time reciting through a memorized exorcism and she was ready to go.

School had just gotten out, and the parking lot was flooding with students ready to go home. Claire fit in perfectly, despite moving against the outward flow. It was no trouble making it through the doors and tucking into the first bathroom she saw. She waited for the hubbub in the halls to quiet down before emerging. When she finally peeked out into the hallway, it was perfectly empty. Awesome.

Claire had decided this was going to be more of a recon mission than anything else. She would go to Conrad’s classroom and office and see if she picked up any demonic signs, just to be sure. Unfortunately, as she snuck closer to Conrad’s office, she realized she heard voices behind the door. Closer still, she realized she recognized one of the voices.

“Can I leave now?” Patience asked. Claire tensed up, hiding behind the door.

“I’m trying to look out for your future,” Conrad said insistently.

“Trust me, I know a lot more about my future than you do,” Patience said. The door swung open and Patience walked quickly out, not noticing where Claire hung back in the shadows. Behind her, Conrad rushed after her, asking her to reconsider. Claire reacted on instinct.

Conrad went down with a heavy thud.

“Claire, what the fuck are you doing?” Patience shouted, having turned around at the commotion.

Conrad punched Claire in the gut, knocking her off of him. Claire curled up on instinct, but then quickly reached for her holy water. She threw it at Conrad’s face and waited for the tell tale steam to rise. Nothing.

Shit.

“Surprise!” Claire said. “They, um… The school hired me to make sure new teachers are capable of defending their students from uh… mysterious persons on campus?”

Clutching his head, Conrad rolled his eyes at her.

“Hunter?” he asked. Both Patience and Claire stared at him.

“How exactly did you know that?” Claire asked, reaching for her angel blade and drawing it. Conrad didn’t look worried though. If anything he looked impressed.

“My dad was a hunter. He spent some time with Missouri Mosely,” Conrad said. Patience stood up a little straighter hearing that. “I kept in touch with James and he asked that I-“

“Keep an eye on me?” Patience asked. “You could have led with that instead of acting like a total creep. Also, tell my dad to mind his own business.”

“My dad wouldn’t be alive without your grandma. I figured I owed James a favor or two,” Conrad finished. “I really do teach math. Just not usually here.”

“Why did your sister file a missing person’s report on you?” Claire asked.

“Because… look, Harriet gets like that,” said Conrad. “She worries, and moving here was kind of a last minute thing. She saw I wasn’t home and she thought the worst. Like I said, our dad was a hunter. You learn to be a bit jumpy when people go missing. I didn’t think to call Harriet first. The two of us don’t always keep in touch.”

“Well, there goes my lead suspect for the demon,” Claire said. “Back to the drawing board, I guess.”

Claire walked off by herself down the hallway.

*********

“I need a ride home!” Patience shouted after Claire.

“I’ll wait, Jesus,” Claire shouted back, not bothering to turn around.

“You two seem to get along,” Mr. Jones commented.

“Don’t even talk,” said Patience. “I understand my dad asked you to be here, but he gave up the right to have a say in my life when he gave me an ultimatum. If he wants to know what’s going on with me, he can apologize. Until then-“

“Can I at least tell him that you’re okay?” Mr. Jones asked. Patience stuttered to a stop.

“Yeah. You can tell him that,” she said. “And… tell him I love him, okay?”

“Will do,” Mr. Jones promised. He started rubbing the back of his head. “Your friend is stronger than she looks.”

“Don’t tell her that. She’s full of herself enough already,” Patience muttered mostly to herself. “I guess I’ll see you in class tomorrow, Mr. Jones.”

“Do your homework?” he said back, obviously as lost as she was. Patience supposed this was step up from his insistence that she should go to the college of dreams, and if she just believed in herself the world would be her oyster, and a few other cliches that really, really didn't apply to her anymore.

Patience was glad to see that Claire’s car was still parked in the lot, and walked briskly towards it in case Claire was in a mood and tried to leave her. Again. Jody had had quite the shouting match with Claire the last time that happened, but they managed to do that about once a week anyway. Patience wasn’t holding her breath for Claire’s kindness.

The car was locked when she got to it, and Claire wasn’t in the driver’s seat. Patience frowned and walked around the car to see Claire sitting against the driver’s side door.

“Lose your keys?” Patience asked. Claire didn’t respond. “Claire?”

As Patience got closer, she saw the mottled bruise forming in the middle of Claire’s forehead.

“Claire!” she shouted, kneeling down next to her. Claire’s eyes blinked open sluggishly. “What happened?”

“Alex…” Claire said, trailing off. Her eyes went wide, and that was all the warning Patience got before she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and then the world went black. Claire yelped as Patience collapsed on top of her. Behind Patience grinned Alex, her eyes flashing black before she leaned down to look at Claire straight on.

“Night, night, sis,” she said with a smirk, and then the butt of Claire’s angel blade was once again driven bluntly into her forehead. Claire was unconscious before the back of her head hit her truck.

**********EARLIER**********

Alex waited until she was certain no one would be in the area before she went to check on Eileen again. Instead of shadowing today, she was supposed to man the computers, which meant she couldn’t be gone for long. Despite the time crunch, she still wanted to make sure that Eileen was going to be alright.

For this reason, she was very surprised when she walked into Eileen’s room to see Bea getting ready to put more pain medication in Eileen’s IV. Eileen was sleeping peacefully, unaware of her surroundings. There was a wicked grin on Bea’s face that Alex had never seen before. It made her skin crawl.

“Bea?” Alex said. “You’re not supposed to give her more for another hour or two.”

Bea snapped around to look at her. Eileen stirred in her bed.

“You must have that wrong,” Bea said calmly. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the computer bay?”

Alex took a deep breath and stared Bea down.

“What were you going to do to Eileen?” she asked. Alex could see now, that Eileen was struggling to get free from her handcuffs, her fear directed towards a woman Alex knew only as a matronly nurse.

“Eileen?” Bea asked. Her smile was a threat, and Alex could feel herself shaking. “I’m just going to make sure that Eileen goes to sleep for a very long time.”

“Exorcizamos te, omnis immundus spirit-“

Bea’s eyes flashed black, and before Alex knew it she was being held against a wall by her neck. She clawed at her throat, but there was nothing material she could attempt to loosen. A very real fear of death began to overtake her, and her one solace was that Eileen had managed to free her wrists. She still might make it out, at least.

Suddenly the pressure lessened and Alex fell to the floor. She struggled to catch her breath as the demon wearing Bea’s body sauntered closer to her. Bea took hold of Alex’s chin and lifted it up so Alex was forced to meet the demon’s eyes.

“Interesting,” the demon said. “Bea didn’t think you were anything special. But that’s what I get for trusting a human’s perceptions, I suppose.”

Alex swallowed hard and looked around for a weapon she could use to defend herself. The room was hopelessly bare, and Eileen had only just started working on freeing her ankles. Add to that the fact that the injured hunter would be useless in a fight, and Alex was pretty sure she was looking her death in the face right now.

“She was right,” Alex tried. “I’m nothing special. Definitely not worth killing.”

The demon grinned.

“Who said anything about killing?” she asked. “I’m all kinds of curious about what’s going on in your head. And I’ve already decided I’m going to take out as many of you pesky hunters as I can get my hands on. There’s no one in charge down below anymore, and I’ve had to find my own fun. I have a feeling you’ll be the perfect little tool to ferret out the herd.”

“Not a hunter,” Alex said, trying her best to break free of the demon’s grip. With unearthly strength, Bea lifted Alex to her feet.

“This isn’t going to feel real nice,” Bea promised with a twinkle in her eye. Alex watched as Bea’s jaw unhinged and black smoke poured from her open mouth, flowing from her into Alex. As hard as she fought to keep the black smoke out, it forced it’s way down Alex’s throat, making itself at home in her limbs. Alex felt her back straighten.

“Going somewhere?” she asked Eileen. The hunter stood at the door, looking out and then back at Alex. Frustration was plain on her face. “What, cat got your tongue? Oh no wait, that was me.”

Eileen looked directly in Alex’s eyes, and mouthed to her. I’m sorry. Then she turned tail and ran as fast as she could, likely popping quite a few of her stitches. To Alex’s surprise, the demon possessing her didn’t run after.

“We have plenty of time, and she has no place to go,” the demon said, answering Alex’s unasked question. “Besides, I think I’ll start with those lovely friends of yours. I’ll give you a show you’ll never forget.”

Alex tried to scream as the demon forced her to leave the hospital, claiming to be sick when one of her supervisors tried to stop her. Not one sound slipped out.

**********NOW**********

“Wow, the whole gang is here,” Alex said excitedly. “Well, most of the gang. I didn’t want the pesky prophet cluing anyone in. But don’t worry, she’s close. She’ll be able to hear everything.”

Slowly, Claire forced her eyes to open. She was ninety nine percent sure she had a concussion, and the world was blurring in front of her in a way that was incredibly concerning. Alex knelt down in front of her and slapped her on each cheek.

“Up and at ‘em, sis,” she said. “You don’t want to miss me killing your new mommy do you? I might even leave you alive, after. It’s so cute how hunters get, when they’re thirsting for revenge.”

“Alex,” Claire said, her words slurring. “Alex please, you have to-“

“Ooh, wrong tactic,” Alex said, sitting crosslegged in front of Claire. Claire attempted to head butt her, only to find that she had been thoroughly tied up and couldn’t move much at all besides slumping forwards. Alex tutted at her with false sympathy. “You try so hard, don’t you? It must suck, just being this massive screw up.”

“Alex,” Claire said trying again. The demon just laughed in her face.

“You think she’ll save you,” Alex said viciously, leaning in closer. “Really? Have you been paying attention, Claire? She and Jody were better off without you. Better off without your moody bullshit and your dumbass heroics. The best day of Alex’s life was when you went off by yourself and stopped pretending you would ever be anything but a disappointment to Jody.”

“Leave her alone,” trembled a frightened voice from across the room. Claire looked up to see Wendy tied up, her wrists bound together and to the stairwell with thick ropes.

“Shut up, Wendy,” Claire urged, trying to keep Alex’s focus on her. It was too late, however. Alex turned slowly and then approached Wendy, walking at glacial pace. When she reached Wendy, Alex made sure she spoke loud enough that both Claire and Jody could hear.

“I don’t know why you’re defending her,” she said. “Claire doesn’t even like you. Not really. She’s just depressed about her dead girlfriend and you’re here. You could be a fucking lamp for all you actually matter.”

Wendy jutted out her chin and looked away. Alex got closer to her.

“I could cut you up right now, and make Claire eat the pieces,” Alex crooned. Wendy froze. “Wouldn’t that be something?”

Jody started trying to say an exorcism, and the next moment a powerful force was blocking Claire’s windpipe. If Jody’s silence was anything to go by, the demon had forced them all into silence.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Alex said after a moment, looking at Jody. “I am going to kill Claire, and I’m going to make you watch, mother dearest. She’s the one you love most, isn’t she? You know you’re not supposed to have favorites, but you just can’t help it. But don’t worry, I’ll kill Claire last. I think I’ll start with the naive wonder here. After that, I’m going to go and take the prophet for a spin. Now that’s a useful skillset to have at one’s disposal. I might even keep her. At least her meat suit won’t have the stink of vampires all over it.”

The demon dusted off her shirt in vague disgust at her current body, then yanked Wendy forward by her hair. Claire struggled harder, trying to slip her bonds. She still couldn’t say a word, but she sure felt like she was screaming.

It barely registered at first, when there was a soft click coming from the direction of the back door. Then Claire’s eyes widened and she looked towards the doorway to the kitchen. The demon seemed to have the same idea, because she dropped Wendy to the floor, and crept quietly towards the door.

The next moment the window behind Claire shattered. Something whizzed over her head and she watched in stunned silence as a knife cut through the ropes holding Wendy’s arms above her head. Wendy dropped to the floor and stared at her arms. Blood drizzled down slowly from one of her wrists, but she’d barely been cut. Claire tried to look back out the window, but no one was there.

The demon spun around to see Wendy grabbing the knife and using it to cut the ropes around her ankles. Before the demon could act, the front door was kicked down, and to Claire’s astonishment Father Hellen was standing there holding a rosary and a cross out in front of him.

**********EARLIER********

Eileen ran until she was out of sight, and collapsed against the side of the building. She was bleeding, and she was certain some of her stitches had come undone. Not that that was the most pressing of matters at the moment. She strained as she forced herself to stand. The pain is nothing, she told herself. Nothing compared to that poor girl’s safety.

Eileen looked down at the address in her hands and set her chin. She would steal a car, drive straight to the address and lie in wait for the demon. Before she could set this plan in motion, a set of headlights flashed in front of her. She dizzily forced her eyes to focus. It occurred to her as she did so that perhaps she was losing more blood than she thought.

“Are you alright, miss?” asked a man. He was tall, but gaunt, mid sixties and dressed in a priest’s vestment. Either a real priest, or someone masquerading as one. Eileen wasn’t sure which she would trust less.

I’m fine, she signed at him. He squinted at her and she rolled her eyes. She held up a thumb’s up, and he shook his head.

“Jody, I’m a friend of Jody’s,” he said. “She’s the sheriff, she asked me to watch out for you. Eileen?”

Eileen nodded slowly. She swayed on her feet, and sat down hard.

“You’re losing blood,” he told her as he walked up to her to help.

She glared at him. Yeah no fucking kidding, she thought to herself. Dumbass.

She still let him help her up and over to his car. One point in his favor is he made no effort to save his upholstery from the fact she was bleeding out. A man with some priorities was better than a man with none at all. She shoved the address at him and he looked down at it.

“Not yet,” he told her. “You’re bleeding out and I’m… I can’t fight. We need additional assistance.”

Eileen looks at him in question.

“As is, we don’t stand a chance,” said the priest. Eileen narrowed her eyes at him. “You can hardly stand, Eileen.”

That was a point, and one Eileen had been choosing not to think about. She supposed the fact she blacked out a moment or two later and didn’t come to until the priest was shaking her was also not exactly the best of signs.

“We’re here,” he said. Eileen heard a car door quietly close and caught sight of a boy or girl who looked more like a shadow than a person slipping past the front of the car. “My friend and I are going to be the distraction. You need to draw a Devil’s trap and use this-“

The priest handed her a tape recorder. So he knew she couldn’t speak. He really must have spoken to the sheriff.

“To exorcise the spirit,” he finished. “Go through the back. We need to move quickly.”

And so Eileen did, noticing as she did so that there were fresh bandages around her wounds and she was no longer dressed in a hospital gown, but woman’s clothing. It was too small for her, but she was glad to have it nonetheless. She just hoped the time spent taking care of her hadn’t meant any lost lives. Eileen feared she had enough blood on her hands already.

She dropped the cassette player from her hands after picking the lock and opening the back door. She watched in horror as it cracked down the middle, unusable. It didn’t matter. Her job now was to get the demon in a Devil’s trap. She’d worry about the rest of it later.

*********NOW**********

Wendy took advantage of Father Hellen’s presence to finish untying herself. The demon seemed preoccupied for the moment as she slammed the priest against the wall, holding him there with some kind of demonic force.

“Wow,” Alex said sarcastically. “My hero. Do you want to know what the best part is? You could break out of this if you really wanted to. You couldn’t beat me, but you could give it a hell of a shot. Too bad you’re too scared.”

Father Hellen was turning purple as he choked on nothing, his feet grasping for some kind of purchase as he hung midair. The demon smiled wider.

“No meat, no women, no anger,” she said, pseudo-sympathetic. “And it must have been twenty years since you found out? That’s a long time to go without. Aren’t you hungry father?”

“No,” the priest snarled, his veins showing and his face bulging out ominously. Monstrously. Wendy was certain that for a moment she had not seen the face of a choking man, but something much more sinister. She didn’t have time to question it, but a glance at Claire’s face let her know that Father Hellen was something different than human. Something dangerous.

“If you took a bite, you’d have enough strength to save them all,” Alex said, persuasively. She held her own arm out towards him, too close for comfort. She was inviting resistance, and Wendy was growing more afraid as she watched the two stare each other down. “Don’t you want to be strong?”

“I am strong,” Father Hellen gasped out, turning away from the demon’s offering. Wendy turned away as the demon closed her fist tighter. It was then that she caught sight of Eileen in the kitchen. She nodded toward Wendy and then Father Hellen. She pointed at Alex and pantomimed an attack before signaling that Wendy should run towards her. Wendy got the gist.

Wendy looked at the box on the front hall table. That’s where she and Claire had put the hex bags they had made together. All she had to do was grab the demon one and throw it at Alex. She sprinted towards it and threw it at the demon’s feet. With a hiss of pain, the demon turned. Father Hellen collapsed in a heap on the ground, gasping.

Wendy ran for the kitchen.

“You think you can run from me,” the demon said, walking behind her. “I’m going to put your lungs where your ears are and keep you alive the whole time, little girl.”

Wendy was thrown full force against the counter and groaned at the impact. She was glad Claire had taught her how to go limp before a hard fall. She looked up scared at the demon advancing on her and wondered where Eileen was. A glance to her right answered that question and when she looked back at the demon, she was surprised to see that Alex had stopped walking.

“You little bitch,” the demon snarled. Wendy looked at the demon’s feet and laughed in sheer relief at the Devil’s trap that had been drawn in permanent marker on the kitchen tiles. Eileen was at her side the next moment, a page full of neat handwriting in her hands. Without thinking, Wendy took it and began to read.

“Don’t you dare-“

“Exorcizamos te, omnis immundus-

“When I get back-“

“Ergo, omnis legio diabolica-“

“-they could spend years trying to find the pieces of you and never do it!”

Wendy spoke faster and faster, wanting it to be over with and done. The demon kept screaming threats, against her, against Claire and Jody and Patience and Alex. Wendy kept reading.

“-te rogamos, audi nos!” she finished, at long last. Alex’s neck bent back at an unnatural angle and a plume of smoke hurtled itself from her mouth. She fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, and Wendy felt fear swallow her whole. “Did I- Did I do it wrong?”

Eileen hugged her firmly in reassurance and shook her head. A moment later Alex coughed, as though she were still trying to hack something up out of her lungs. She leaned over and spit out bile that smelled like rotten eggs, but she looked okay. Wendy nearly sobbed in relief.

“I don’t think I like demons,” Wendy said out loud. Eileen shook with silent hysterical laughter, still hugging Wendy tightly. Alex just stared at her blankly. “I don’t think I like them much at all.”

*********

“Who threw the knife?”

It was the first thing Claire said when they were all untied and getting their bearings. After hugging the bejeezus out of Alex of course, and making sure Patience was okay from where she had been tied up and blindfolded upstairs to prevent her from predicting anything happening. She still had some priorities, okay?

“What do you mean?” Jody asked with a frown. Claire almost let it go, but found she just couldn’t.

“Well, Eileen was pretty much bleeding out,” Claire pointed out. She turned to Father Hellen “And your type of thing is more power than precision, no offense. And if you only hulk out if you absolutely have to, anyway… who threw the knife?”

“Leave it alone, Claire,” said Jody. That meant she had an idea of who it might be, and Claire tried not to feel the sting of that.

“It’s alright,” Father Hellen said quietly. “She would find out eventually. Claire, I sometimes take in wayward monsters. People who need a place to find themselves. I turn them to God or turn them to something else more comfortable for them in order to handle their urges and become contributing members of society. Nonlethal members of society.”

“And you didn’t tell us this before because…?” Claire asked, staring him down.

“I told Jody,” he said. “I asked her to trust me and not to mention it unless she needed to.”

“Because that’s not sketchy.”

“Hunters have a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later. Forgive me for being cautious. I try to give the people who stay with me a safe haven. Telling a hunter that I barely know where to find us would make the cathedral a barrel for shooting fish in,” Father Hellen contested hotly. “Have you checked that every monster you’ve killed has actually done something wrong?”

“Don’t know how I’d find them otherwise,” said Claire. She didn’t buy it for a second. Father Hellen had had eyes for Jody from the second she’d walked into his church, and the signs weren’t exactly pointing in his favor as far as she was concerned. “Then again, nothing wrong with a little pre-emptive action for a future rage monster.”

“Claire,” Jody said, stepping between her and the priest. Claire allowed it, but only because it was Jody. “That’s not exactly how you thank someone for saving your life.”

“Wendy and Eileen saved us,” Claire said. “And whoever our mystery monster is. Y’know, the one he’s protecting? Father Hellen was just the distraction. And look… I’ve dealt with three rugarus. I gave the first two the benefit of the doubt and people got dead because I waited. I’m not going to kill you, Father Hellen, but I’m watching you and if you ever so much as look hungry while looking at another person… I’m taking you down.”

Father Hellen looked back at her and nodded, much to Claire’s surprise.

“You have a hard job, I understand,” he told her. “But I am not the enemy.”

Claire looked away, fiddling with the angel blade she’d retrieved from Alex after the demon had been exorcised. She felt safer with it in her hand. Less helpless.

“We’ll see about that,” she answered at last. She lifted the blade and threw it towards the side of the house. It hit perfectly between two slots of paneling, and the hilt barely wobbled from where it stuck out from the wood. Whoever this mystery monster was, they were good.

Claire was certain she was better.

**********

Alex was glad everyone had pretty much accepted her excuse that she needed to look after Eileen, and that she would catch up with all of them later. Eileen had been bandaged expertly by the priest, with a kind of precision that belied either medical or military training. Alex was grateful for it, because she was left only to hook Eileen up to an IV.

How are you, she signed to Eileen.

N-O-T-G-R-E-A-T

Alex nodded. Yeah, not great.

The demon who had possessed the both of them was vile in ways Alex had never imagined. He had taken over her mind and memories and used them against her family. The specificity in how he had sought out their vulnerabilities chilled Alex to the bone. She hated that he wasn’t dead. She hated that she couldn’t do anything about it. But that wasn’t her, and so she tried to let it go.

She tried to do what she was good at.

“I can give you your tongue back,” she said to Eileen. That got the woman’s attention. “I, uh, I talk to an ex-witch on occasion. Online. He’s helped me learn some healing spells, to help at the hospital. Jody doesn’t know, so don’t… after I do that, if you could get out of here? So Jody doesn’t find out?”

Eileen nodded firmly.

“Okay,” Alex said. “Rest up, and I’ll ask him for the ingredients. We’ll get you your voice back, Eileen.”

Eileen relaxed and went to sleep in her bed. She almost smiled as she did so, and Alex felt pride light her up from the inside. Maybe she couldn’t kill the bad guys, but she could fix things, sometimes. That could be more than enough.

“Keeping secrets from Jody, huh?”

Alex flinched and spun to see Claire standing in the doorway.

“You heard that?” she asked. Claire nodded, pulling one of the other chairs in the room behind her as she walked towards Alex. With a dull wooden scraping and a final thud as she set the chair down, Claire joined Alex at Eileen’s bedside. The two sat together in silence for a few moments.

“I get it,” Claire said after a second. “I know you like to help like this. As long as you’re careful… magic is just more of the same.”

“I am careful,” Alex assured her. Claire nodded, still moodily watching as Eileen breathed in and out. “Claire, are we… Are we okay?”

Claire snapped out of her daze and looked toward Alex.

“Why wouldn’t we be?”

“I know what I- what that thing made me say,” she said slowly. “He didn’t exactly pull his punches.”

Claire started laughing. If it wasn’t so incredibly unfunny, Alex might have started laughing at the incredulous expression on Claire’s face. As it was, she just waited for the laughing fit to subside and tried to silently cajole Claire into an explanation.

“It’s just,” Claire said at last. “Alex, that fucker couldn’t say a sentence without calling me ‘sis.’”

“So?”

“So… you seeing me as a sister?” Claire said. “That’s more than I thought, okay? He picked the wrong pressure point. I know you don’t hate me Alex. I know shit between us is complicated, and I know you wish I’d stuck around for Jody. That me leaving sucked for both of you. I didn’t know you thought of us as… that close.”

Alex realized what Claire meant.

“Seriously? You think Jody and I just put up with you-?”

“I think you’re your own little family, and I’m… You guys try to love me,” said Claire. “And that’s enough.”

“You’re a fucking idiot, Claire Novak,” Alex said. She rolled her eyes at Claire’s expression. “Yeah, you’re basically my sister. Don’t go getting a big head about it.”

Claire smirked. For a second she almost looked like her normal self again.

“Too late,” she said smugly. Alex smiled back at her. Afterwards, Alex sat with her sister in quiet company for quite a long time.

**********

“I exorcised a demon,” Wendy said. Patience was helping her clean up the kitchen. Honestly, she was doing most of the work while Wendy was still a little shell shocked. Hopefully a little talking would be enough to crack her out of it, because Patience had homework due the next day and her life might be a never-ending horror show, but the monsters could drag her perfect GPA from her cold dead hands.

“You did a good job,” Patience said. “Apparently it gets easier.”

“Has it gotten easier for you?” Wendy asks. Patience gives her a look.

“I just got tied up and thrown into an attic. So not exactly,” she said. “I wish my life could go back to normal.”

Wendy was silent for a moment. Then quietly she spoke.

“I don’t,” she said.

“What?” Patience asked.

“I don’t know,” Wendy said. “Now that I know… it feels big. Like I’m part of something. I spent my whole life having to realize over and over again how I was different than everyone around me. Not religious enough, not straight enough, not Republican enough. But I did this, and now I feel like… Maybe it’s what I’m supposed to be doing. What do you think?”

Wendy looked up at Patience. She looked hopeful, and yet Patience wasn’t moved enough to hold back her true opinion. It’s better to tell people the truth and let them decide for themselves anyway.

“I think you’re being stupid,” she said. “You have a family that loves you that isn’t involved with any of this. You have a choice. If I don’t use my gift, people get hurt and it’s my fault. There’s a million ways you could help the world, and if I could be doing any of them instead of this, I would be. I’d switch places with you in a heartbeat.”

Wendy frowned at her.

“Would you, though?” she asked after a second. “I thought you were proud of what you could do. It’s your connection to your family. Alex told me you always… you look at your grandma’s brooch and you seem calmer. More focused.”

Patience hadn’t thought about it like that. She sighed and looked away.

“I didn’t get to pick,” she said at last. “Save the world or act like some jerk who only cares about herself. What kind of choice is that?”

“An easy one for some people,” Wendy said, obviously trying to sound casual. “And they don’t pick the same way you do.”

“Wow, I’m not a sociopath. Five points for Gryffindor,” Patience muttered.

“You’re special,” Wendy countered. “But you still had a choice, and you chose right. Be proud of that. You didn’t fail just because you found a new direction to take your life.”

Patience shrugged and went back to cleaning the kitchen. After a few seconds, Wendy joined her. The clink of broken glass and ceramic being collected in dustbins filled the silence between them.

**********

Jody and Father Hellen stood outside, surveying the damage of the window that the knife had crashed through.

“I’ll pay to have it replaced,” Father Hellen promised. “I’m sorry that-“

“Please don’t apologize for looking out for my girls,” Jody said. “So… rugaru.”

“Unfortunately,” he said, not meeting her eyes. “I was lucky I was so religious. I was waiting until I got married to… well. It meant I had no children to pass down my affliction to. When the changes started happening, I thought it was a sign from God that… that I needed to resist temptation.”

“You thought wanting to eat people was a sign from God?” Jody asked skeptically.

“We eat the body and blood of Christ every Sunday. It didn’t seem farfetched,” the priest muttered. “But as I was struggling I met a woman at church… she knew what was happening to me. She was a nun that used to work here, a traveling hunter by trade. Every day she waited for me to change and every day I resisted it. I cut meat out of my diet, because I craved it. I began to meditate more, and focus all my energy on God to escape the hunger. Instead of killing me, she explained to me what I was and told me to resist as long as I could. When I couldn’t anymore, she would take care of it.”

“But she didn’t have to.”

“I never turned,” Father Hellen said in confirmation. “I have bad moments. Joining the church and focusing my energies elsewhere has helped greatly. I take precautions not to put myself in situations where I might feel defensive or overly threatened. I don’t want to wake the beast inside me.”

“Except when it comes to the monsters you take in. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that sounds like it can get pretty threatening,” Jody said. She could tell by the look in Father Hellen’s eye that that was non-negotiable and well… he’d lasted this long. Twenty years wasn’t exactly something to sneeze at, even if Claire’s intuition seemed to be pointing towards Father Hellen being bad news.

“Rugaru don’t feed on monsters,” he said at last. “There’s little danger.”

“You know that pretty much everything you’ve told me is pretty damn concerning.”

“But…?” Father Hellen said, after Jody let the statement hang. Jody fixed a stern smile on her face.

“But you helped us when you didn’t need to. You’ve been honest with me. I’m still willing to give you a fair shake,” said Jody. “Just remember that if anyone you take in causes trouble, we’re not going to hold back. We don’t need more dead folks’ in Sioux Falls.”

Father Hellen nodded. He looked at Jody with admiration and respect, and Jody was trying a number of different tactics to stop that from going to her head. Just because she didn’t always get the respect she deserved didn’t mean she owed anything to someone willing to show it. She knew how to be careful, and she was going to stick to what she knew.

It was lucky that Donna called when she did, or Jody would have had to find some other way to maneuver herself out of the awkward lull in conversation she and Father Hellen had found themselves in. Father Hellen heard her phone ring and instantly excused himself, making his way off to his car. Jody picked up the phone as she heard the priest’s engine start.

“Donna, what’s going on?” she asked. “Did Wendy call you?”

Donna pause, obviously thrown off.

“Uh, no? Is she okay? Did anything-?”

“She’s fine, we just- We had a bit of a scare,” Jody said. “Demonic possession. Wendy took care of it.”

“Wendy did?” Donna asked, pride coloring her voice. “She’s a great girl, ain’t she? I mean- That’s not why I’m calling. I requested a transfer a while back and I got it.”

Jody frowned.

“You did?”

“Yeah,” Donna said. “I’m going to be heading up the department in the next county over. I figured that way I could help with the girls, and- Honestly, Jodes, I need a fresh start.”

“Is this about Doug Two?”

“It was,” Donna admitted. “But it’s not anymore. I’ve spent a lot of time, recently, thinking about who I am, and who I want to be. And whenever I do, it gets all mixed up in who I used to be. I want to move forward, and I think this is the way to do it.”

“Okay then,” Jody said.

“Okay?”

“Donna, you’re an incredibly smart woman. You don’t need anyone’s approval for your choices, let alone mine,” said Jody. “But for the record, what you’re saying makes sense. And I’ll be more than glad to see more of you around here.”

“Aw, I love you too, Jodes,” said Donna back. “Tell the girls hi for me, and tell Wendy I’m pleased as a purple plum she’s doin’ so well. I’m glad she’s getting back to her old self.”

“I’m glad you’re getting back to your old self, too,” said Jody. She couldn’t see Donna smiling across the line, but she knew Donna was.

**********

Kaia took back her knife from Father Hellen without a word. He tried to start a conversation, but she shook her head. They’d quickly established a system in which Kaia was easily able to set boundaries. When she didn’t want to talk, she let Father Hellen know and he left her alone.

She laid on her bed in her hidden bedroom, thinking hard. She hadn’t told Father Hellen, but she had taken to making excursions during the day. Always short and always to see Claire. It was strange, just how much the other girl seemed to call out to her. How much she wanted to speak to her.

Kaia closed her eyes, willing sleep to overcome her. She could feel the conflict within her, the fight against what she planned to do. Kaia Nieves had promised she would no longer bother the dreams of Claire Novak.

The huntress had made no such promise.

**********

Claire was soaked through with her own sweat, staring across at her sparring partner. Kaia smiled back at her, more predatory than she had ever been in real life. In her hand she held a staff, which she twirled with all the grace of a dancer. It struck out and Claire barely dodged it, holding her blade out to knock the staff away as she ducked.

“That all you got?” Claire asked. Kaia whirled, knocking Claire’s feet out from under her in a move so quick, she practically blurred. However, as Kaia leaned down to press the staff against Claire’s chest, effectively pinning her to the ground, she felt the poke of Claire’s blade in her side.

“Gotcha,” Claire said quietly. Kaia waited for Claire to go in for the kill. She kept waiting.

“Claire?” the huntress asked in question. Claire pulled back the knife. The huntress let her sit up, and watched as Claire avoided her eyes.

“I thought I got you out of my head,” Claire said. “I thought… I don’t know.”

“You’re supposed to kill me,” said the huntress. “You’re my future. You have to be. That’s why I can always feel you.”

It was as though Claire couldn’t hear her, she was so lost in her own world.

“When am I going to stop missing you?” she asked. “When is it going to stop hurting?”

“I did it,” the huntress tried. “I’m the one who killed Kaia. It’s me. I’m the one you want.”

But Claire didn’t hear that, either. Not a word. The huntress was beginning to suspect outside influence. Or inside influence, as it were.

“When am I going to stop… I love you. I know it’s messed up and stupid and I need to get over it but-”

And suddenly the huntress was shoved somewhere far, far away, and Kaia sat in her place. She looked at a crying Claire Novak and did the only thing she could think to do. She took Claire’s face in her hands.

“I love you, too,” she said. “It’s okay, Claire. Someday, I'll just be another scar.”

She picked up Claire's angel blade and put it in her hand. Slowly, she positioned it so the point of the blade was at her heart. A quick easy death, for when Claire learned the truth.

"You don't know yet," Kaia told her. "But if you have to... I forgive you."

Claire leaned forward to kiss her instead, the blade falling to the ground between them. Despite herself, Kaia kissed back.

**Author's Note:**

> I pretty much wrote all of this out of spite that Wayward Sisters didn't get picked up, so let me know if you want more on my take of the continuing adventures of these awesome fucking women.


End file.
